Happy October, all!
Remember all those times I said I'd try to be better at updating my blog? Well, in those efforts I've completely failed. But that's okay. While not much has happened on my blog space, plenty has been going on in life. I'm sure the same can be said for you!
Update on my writing:
I'm not entirely sure how many people check to see what I'm working on these days. Next month will mark the year anniversary of the conclusion of the Reclaim trilogy I co-wrote with fellow writer Joanna Reeder. Strangely enough, Reflect, Relinquish, and Reclaim are still my most recently published books. If you haven't checked out the Shifter Academy series the Reclaim trilogy is a part of, I highly recommend it. There are 20 books to feast upon, and several of them were written by me!
For the time being, I've stepped away from writing in the Shifter Academy series. You might be wondering what I've been working on since last November (maybe you haven't, though...). Well, I'm pleased to say that I've been hard at work with my revisions of my 5-book epic fantasy series, The Shadow Wielder. To let you know where I'm at, Book 1 is almost completed with its beta stage. It's nearly ready for release! It's just over 127,000 words long, which roughly translates to about 508 pages. I've spent a lot of time revising and reworking Book 1, and the feedback I've received thus far has been overwhelming positive!
I'm currently in a major revision phase with Book 2. After completing the first draft of Book 5, I knew without a doubt which of the 5 total books was the weak-link. The first draft of Book 2 came in at a measly 60,000 words (approximately 240 pages), which is about half as long as Book 1. What I've discovered during the past several months is that I was flat-out lazy when I wrote the first draft of Book 2. It's quite possible it was a NaNoWriMo project, as the writing is rushed and non-descriptive. I've encountered several continuity errors, some larger than others. In most cases, they weren't too difficult to resolve. But to be honest, some were so big I had to rewrite entire chapters. Today, I'm starting into revising the second half of the book. As far as wordcount goes here at the halfway mark, Book 2 is now sitting at just about 97,000 words! That's 37,000 more words I've added with this second draft. Based on my predictions, the second half of my editing should add another 30,000 words to the book, which puts it almost exactly on par with Book 1's length! I've set a goal to complete the second draft of Book 2 by the end of the year, and I hope I can achieve it!
It's been a long time since anybody's asked me when my next book is set to release, which might be a good thing for me right now. I don't have an answer for that. Even though Shadow Wielder Book 1 is nearly ready for release, I've been toying with the idea of releasing all 5 books as one volume. Even if I decide to release them as separate books, I think I'll still wait to release Book 1 after I feel confident that all five books are ready for release. At the rate I've been going, that will put release of the series sometime in 2023 (probably Q2). That being said, if you're really wanting to read Book 1, I'd be open to distributing beta copies. Just contact me via my website and let me know!
Upcoming Event!
Not too long ago, a representative from the Weber County Library invited me and Joanna Reeder to participate in the Utah Humanities Book Festival! We'll be presenting about the collaborative writing process, as well as doing a Q&A session! After the presentation, we'll be doing a book signing, too! If you'd like to participate, here are the details:
When: October 21st, 2021 at 7:00 PM
When: October 21st, 2021 at 7:00 PM
Where: Weber County Library, Main Branch (2464 Jefferson Ave., Ogden, UT 84401-2404)
For those of you who can't physically attend, this will also be a Facebook Live event! Click here for the linkity link!
I hope you can find the time to check it out! It'll be a lot of fun!
